Interestingly, the members of the Cult of Climastrology who say this never tell us what sacrifices they’ve made
Saving the planet demands sacrifices just as Covid-19 does
Certain environmentalists have long argued that economic growth must end for the sake of the planet. “Degrowth†is concisely defined by one proponent, Riccardo Mastini, as “the abolition of economic growth as a social objectiveâ€.
Degrowth represents the view that sufficiently sharp reductions in carbon dioxide emissions cannot be achieved through new technology, pricing incentives or even major investment in energy and transport systems. The only thing that will work is economic growth itself coming to an end, permanently.
The pandemic is giving us a taste of what an end to growth might look like. So what lessons should we learn?
The lockdowns have indeed suppressed carbon dioxide emissions, but less than we might hope. The climate science website Carbon Brief estimates that emissions in 2020 are likely to fall by about 5 or 6 per cent relative to emissions last year. That would be the largest fall on record.
What might be a surprise is that it is not enough. If the cuts were compounded at that rate for the rest of the decade, we’d still fall short of what the UN Environment Programme estimates would be needed to restrict global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. (A 2 degree target would be easier: five pandemics in the next decade would suffice.)
The writer, Tim Harford, isn’t particularly happy with all this talk about degrowth, especially since it would destroy everything. But, see, he’s only unhappy about talking about it
Fine. Yet if ending growth is not the objective, but the means to an end, might I suggest that it is not a very effective means? “Abolish economic growth†works as a radical political slogan, but when we’re looking for policy levers to pull we find ourselves coming back to specific taxes, subsidies, public investments and regulations. So why don’t we stop talking about degrowth and focus on the particular policies that might address environmental degradation?
We might find that those policies, applied with sufficient vigour to save the planet, would indeed have the side-effect of bringing economic growth to a halt. I doubt it. But the way to find out is to try; we might be pleasantly surprised at how flexible economic activity can be, and how much fun we can all have while respecting planetary limits.
See, don’t talk about doom, just implement it. Hey, maybe things won’t be bad. But, then again, it might, but, why not give it a shot? For The Planet, you know.
The virus has taught us that our way of life is more vulnerable than we might hope. It has taught us the importance of making sacrifices now to prepare for predictable risks in the future. It may even have reminded us that driving to work, or flying half way around the world for a meeting, are not always necessary, and of the joys of walking or cycling through quiet streets.
What has Tim sacrificed?
Has anyone here had the decency to wih Elwood and John a Happy International Communist Day? It’s Mat Day and the commies are all in quarantine. How sad. Well, except the ones murdering people in Red China, Korea etc.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PBk4dd6fB28/WQcq2qsVSFI/AAAAAAABI68/QohX-f0zTvEFSQRYYxzhJXwN22ocLznTgCLcB/s1600/oneill050117l-640.jpg
“The virus has taught us that our way of life is more vulnerable than we might hope.” What it taught us is that the leftists among us will kill and impoverish us all if that’s what it takes to beat Trump and take over America. And it wasn’t “the virus” that did that, it was every mother-lovin’ leftist mayor and governor who turned into mini Nazis over night.
Trump 2020 So no one celebrates May Day again in America.
Sorry about the typos. I need a new computer because it’s old, slow and the keys get stuck. Just like me.
John, you’re a millionaire! Buy a new computer!
Now, now Dana settle down. Next thing ya know Elwood will be saying the government should take away my assets because after a lifetime if working, saving and investing I am not equal to an LA street person and I should be made so. Besides, the fact that we’ve managed to retain some of the wealth we generated means we cheated.
I can’t decide if I want another PC or a Chrome. I also may want to try an all-in-one since it sports larger screens. What is your opinion?
Mr Mastini wrote:
And all it took was skyrocketing unemployment, maybe 20% of the people having lost their jobs. It’s easy for those who not lost their jobs, who are continuing to earn money, to be flip about other people not having jobs. That $1,200 stimulus check ain’t going to last very long.
TEACH typed: The writer, Tim Harford, isn’t particularly happy with all this talk about degrowth, especially since it would destroy everything. But, see, he’s only unhappy about talking about it.
That’s untrue. Harford writes: ” … if ending growth is not the objective, but the means to an end, might I suggest that it is not a very effective means? “Abolish economic growth†works as a radical political slogan, but when we’re looking for policy levers to pull we find ourselves coming back to specific taxes, subsidies, public investments and regulations. So why don’t we stop talking about degrowth and focus on the particular policies that might address environmental degradation?”
He specifically writes that degrowth is not a very effective tool.
And as always, rather than crafting an argument, TEACH ends his disinforming missive with an ad hominem attack: What has Tim sacrificed?
The new and improved Connie argument: CO2-caused global warming is a hoax engineered by the Chinese Communist Party and their useful idiots, the global media and climate scientists, all funded by the Chinese Communist Party. It’s no coincidence that “warmists” want to defund the US military. The current pandemic is part of the overall conspiracy to destabilize the West (it’s no coincidence that the scientifically-engineered virus has mostly affected the US and Europe). The goal is global domination by the Chinese Communist Party, more dangerous than THRUSH, SPECTRE, CONTROL, COBRA, KAOS and VILE combined!
A connie argument?
Prominent university bio lab urged to reveal extent of relationship with Wuhan lab at center of coronavirus outbreak
Prove it’s not. You keep saying prove it. Well prove its not and by the way your argument is communist. You simply want to take a destroyed economy and then TAX the shit out of it. AGAIN. But instead of fixing peoples broken lives caused by COMMUNISTS you want to fix AGW.
Fossil fuels is power you communist moron. JUst like 90 percent of everything comes from China now, after we follow your plan, 90 percent of fossil fuels will be under China’s fingertips as well. Brilliant you communist apologist.
I understand riducle is China’s best argument, because its the only one they have, but AGW is a SCAM. Period.
Klem,
You keep making the ridiculous claim that someone asking for you to support your other ridiculous claims with evidence MUST PROVE YOUR ridiculous claims to be false.
Sorry, Charlie. It doesn’t work like that.
Can you prove you DON’T fellate dogs? No you cannot, but then you shouldn’t have to, right? Shouldn’t it be the responsibility of the one making the ridiculous claim against you to prove that you DO fellate dogs?
Your lack of simple reasoning aside, you need to recognize that the US, China and Europe are the major powers now. Russia, Iran, N Korea are pains in the ass. China is an oppressive authoritarian nation, but is wisely reaping the benefits of global capitalism.
And of course the trump administration is pushing China! China! China! for political advantage, even having the unneeded, wasteful (according to Connies) Dept of Education investigating US universities.
Fixing the lives of Americans harmed by the Covid hoax is necessary and important. So is reducing the likelihood that the next pandemic will do as much damage.
Global warming is real and is caused by increasing atmospheric CO2 levels derived from our burning of fossil fuels – coal, oil, gas – whose carbon was sequestered underground for hundreds of millions of years but has been released into the atmosphere rapidly over the past two centuries. Selfishly, we humans are concerned about how this continued warming will harm human society. The way to save human societies is to change our reliance on burning fossil fuels for energy. How to do that is the matter for political solutions.
You should support your case with evidence, a more persuasive approach than ALL CAPS.
Yeah 50 center. That is one of the keys to Saul Alinsky. Never be backed into a corner. Never say what you would do. Never prove a negative.
I have repeatedly pointed out how there are hundreds if not 1000’s of scientists and academia on the payroll of CHINA.
I just pointed out another fact coming out that the University of TEXAS is involved with the WUHAN lab in CHINA which everyone knows is where this virus came from.
Funny how MANN failed to provide his DATA for his hockey stick when he filed a law suit against Ball in Canada for claiming he should be AT the STATE PEN and not PENN STATE.
Amazing how he said, uh I can’t find it. The most important research in a century and he lost it. I guess his dog ate it.
Funny how NOAA took down all their data about 5 years back and after it was down for 3 weeks they put it all back up and it had changed showing warming when it was repeatedly pointed out to them that their DATA did not show warming. FUNNY how that happened under OBAMA isnt it.
Funny how Texas AM has over 100 scholars on the payroll of China. Funny how a harvard professor of biology was caught taking millions from China to work with them and give them his research paid for my NIH and the USA MILITARY.
Funny how Chinese scientists publish papers all in on AGW but your bestest buddies the Russians publish papers doubting the stuff that is coming out of China and the WESTS bought and paid for universities.
HOW are they buying off these universities?
Why that is simple. Right now. Today. Austrailia told China they wanted accountability and China responded that they will not take kindly to being treated this way and Austrailia should be careful because they might find that their universities are NO LONGER FULL OF CHINESE STUDENTS PAYING BIG BUCKS. and stealing everything they find when it comes to research. That CHINA WILL NOT BUY AUSTRALIA’s BEEF and wine.
Strange how that works isnt it. USA and the EU universities have 100’s of thousands of students paying BIG BUKS to attend those colleges.
The EU REPORT RECENTLY RELEASED on the virus was drastically affected by Chinese influence. Why is that 50 center? Because the west has become sluts for China.
Prove MY POINT. There the anecdotal evidence is clear. You can’t even provide ANY EVIDENCE that papers are not influenced in favor of AGW when I can give you universites full of Chinese STUDENTS who are influencing the very basic nature of each government around the globe.
Yeah AGW is a scam. Perpetrated by a nation of communists who want the west to fold and they have their insideous hooks in the western whores who have spread their legs for china buks and don’t care who gets hurt in the process because THEY have enriched themselves at the worlds expense.
SO yeah you make all these AGW statements with no proof other than its warming. Which it has been warming for 11,000 years. Im impressed china TROLL.
What might be a surprise is that it is not enough. If the cuts were compounded at that rate for the rest of the decade, we’d still fall short of what the UN Environment Programme estimates would be needed to restrict global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. (A 2 degree target would be easier: five pandemics in the next decade would suffice.)
NO, NO. The ONLY WAY TO SAVE THE PLANET IS TO TAX EVERYONE!!
End the militaries of all nations except China and North Korea and IRAN, the AXIS OF EVIL because, well they will hang us if we piss them off. NO, NO, We have to destroy the west.
Why is that 50 center. Why do you want to destroy the west and hand fossil fuels to the axis of Evil?
Yeah you pretty much laid it out in spades when you claimed
CO2-caused global warming is a hoax engineered by the Chinese Communist Party and their useful idiots, the global media and climate scientists, all funded by the Chinese Communist Party. It’s no coincidence that “warmists†want to defund the US military. The current pandemic is part of the overall conspiracy to destabilize the West (it’s no coincidence that the scientifically-engineered virus has mostly affected the US and Europe). The goal is global domination by the Chinese Communist Party
PROVE ANY OF THIS IS NON>NOT>NOT TRUE!!!
We might find that those policies, applied with sufficient vigour to save the planet, would indeed have the side-effect of bringing economic growth to a halt.
It sure seems to me that 50 center just plain lies in every post he makes. Sure looks like his statement He specifically writes that degrowth is not a very effective tool.
Is not at all what he is talking about because as you can see later in his article he discusses the policies the AGW people want to end AGW would END ECONOMIC GROWTH.
Why? Because they know economic growth is what drives the production of that EVIL CO2. They then also know that pandemics keep population in check so he prays for 5 more pandemics in the coming decade to MEET SOME ARBITRARY number put out by the communist owned and operated UN climate panel as the most likely means of ending the AGW threat.
So swap one FEAR MONGERING problem with another FEAR MONGERING PROBLEM and you have a solution to AGW as well as ending the military, ending the wests economic power, turning the world over to CHINA who does not play by this nitwits rules and voille we have ended the threat of AGW. Now we can live in peace in poverty and starvation and want and become good little NETIZENS of the world all OWNED and operated by the CCP OF THE WORLD.
Doncha love it when Jeffery and his sock puppet set up these faux Socratic dialogs like they were 2 real people?
So Sibley is calling Klem a fake and a liar? Sibley is a cowardly lyin’.
Sible, do you have even one friend? Does your wife keep urging you to go out and mingle with the brave people so that you might catch The Trump Plague? LOL.
You’d be surprised how The Blonde worries about my health.
And there’s no disease for which Trump is the cause. There is, however, the Democrat-Wet-Dream-Flu.
Too bad it didn’t work out as planned.
I’ve said countless times I go out every day. Conduct my business and refuse to engage in social distancing.
So you can stick your LOL in your pudendum.
As always.
“And there’s no disease for which Trump is the cause.”
As much as I hate to disagree, formwiz there is one disease caused by Trump: Trump Derangement Syndrome or TDS. Many mindless, angry, vulgar morons on the radical communist left have it. Elwood among them. The only known cure is the Epstein method.
Notice it’s Jeffery who always has to stick up for his cartoon characters and his sock puppets?
They can’t do it for themselves.
Now that’s a LOL.
Notice it’s The Sibley who falsely claims the fat neck-bearded white guys marching on the capitols with their popguns and body armor are all stockers, clerks, fast-food workers, and senior center assistants. Pure bullshit. Those people are working and don’t have time to play revolutionary war with their tea party buds. Teachers are too smart for your bullshit.
Like you, trump and kye, they care little for real Americans. You’re all interested in the power to Make America White Again, and The Don is your guy.
Did YOU get your $1200 bribe from trump?? I certainly didn’t. Did Teach?
Notice it’s The Sibley who falsely claims the fat neck-bearded white guys marching on the capitols with their popguns and body armor are all stockers, clerks, fast-food workers, and senior center assistants. Pure bullshit. Those people are working and don’t have time to play revolutionary war with their tea party buds. Teachers are too smart for your bullshit.
ICYMI teachers are out of work, too. How do you know some of them weren’t teachers? Did you know teachers are usually from the bottom of the academic barrel?
And how do you know those guys didn’t take a day off to stand up for their rights. Clearly, you wouldn’t.
If you worked.
Like you, trump and kye, they care little for real Americans. You’re all interested in the power to Make America White Again, and The Don is your guy.
AS I said earlier, those are the real Americans. Funny how many blacks and Hispanics ghave come out for Trump.
Funny how many Hispanics are for the Wall.
Or are they just white Hispanics?
Did YOU get your $1200 bribe from trump?? I certainly didn’t. Did Teach?
1200 is no bribe. We got out stimulus check, signed by the President.
I wanted to have it framed, but I thought of you and instead donated it to the Trump campaign.
So ‘trump’ gives you $1200 of taxpayer money and you give it to the trump campaign to pay to his vile spawn and their lovers. That is sooooo trump. Kudos.
OK, then, I’ll give double that to the Dem candidate.
Triple it like you did for the Hildabeast in 2016.
Loser.
Lolgfy MSMG
I’ve already given $2800 to the Trump campaign as has my wife. We also gave $5000 to the RNC and can give another $5000 if we choose by law.
So you’re cheap as well as hateful, eh Elwood? So you really never believed #believeallwomen or is Stinky-fingers Biden just an exception?
So ‘trump’ gives you $1200 of taxpayer money and you give it to the trump campaign to pay to his vile spawn and their lovers. That is sooooo trump. Kudos.
Scare quotes. Trump is the man’s name. And, since I pay taxes like everybody else, I figure it’s my money, to do with as I please.
And it pleases me that Trump will win. And his “spawn” are probably a lot less vile than you.
OK, then, I’ll give double that to the Dem candidate.
Of course, you will. /SARC
But we know the Demos’ nominee. It’s Gropin’ Joe.
Are you saying he’s not fit? Are you saying he should be disqualified because of Tara Reade’s charges? Are you saying the Demos should ignore the democratic process and overturn the will of the people?
Kye has given thousands of dollars to the trump campaign but is whining to get taxpayer money. This is the GOP!
Exactly what “taxpayer money” am I whining to get? I’m not on welfare or food stamps or section 8 housing. I don’t get Medicaid or any other “taxpayer” subsidy. In 2019 my wife and I paid $73,000 in federal income taxes because she still works and I trade stocks. So what “taxpayer money” am I whining about Elwood?
Trump 2020 Cut taxes-save lives.
Kye has given thousands of dollars to the trump campaign but is whining to get taxpayer money. This is the GOP!
No, that’s the Demos. And Kye makes a good point. He does nothing that entitles him to taxpayer funding and asks for none.
Jeffery OTOH wants taxpayer money for everything.
Edward Sibley exists on taxpayer money.
Are you saying you oppose the trillions of taxpayer dollars being handed out??
Edward Sibley exists on taxpayer money.
Then why did I give mine back?
I thought that was your position.
Are you saying you oppose the trillions of taxpayer dollars being handed out??
The stimulus was only to tide people over for 2 weeks until the states came to their senses. Nobody dreamed these Democrat morons would be talking months.
I had my doubts before, but, the way things developed, it seems Mnuchin was quite prescient.